By Mike Barnhart
While the Los Gatos boys and girls dominated the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League's De Anza Division cross country finals on Halloween, Cupertino's Sumika Shiokawa continued her dominance of the 2.95-mile Crystal Springs Reservoir course.
Shiokawa's third race at the Belmont venue in less than three weeks yielded the same result as the earlier runs--a new school record. This time, though, the talented junior crossed the finish line first and captured the varsity girls championship. Her time of 18:15 was 22 seconds better than her previous Crystal Springs effort. Saratoga sophomore Katie Nast (18:32) placed fifth.
Los Gatos senior Matthew Petrillo (14:57) outdistanced the varsity boys field, breaking the 15-minute barrier, as he won the varsity boys race in impressive fashion. Saratoga senior Brad Jacobs (15:39) finished second.
At 24 points, Los Gatos ended well ahead of runner-up Monta Vista (60). Homestead was third with 89 points, followed by Cupertino (118), Saratoga (121) and Lynbrook (129).
With four runners in the top six, Los Gatos won the girls title with 29 points. Monta Vista, led by the 7-8-10 showing of sophomore Jean Feng (18:56) and seniors Angela Hsu (19:03) and Lisa Worsham (19:08), was second with 65, nine better than Saratoga. Homestead (93) was fourth behind the efforts of sophomores Kristin Peanasky (19:07, ninth) and Emily Evans (19:12, 11th). Cupertino (119) and Lynbrook (130) followed.
Next stop for the boys and girls squads of the six De Anza Division schools is the Central Coast Section championship meet at Toro County Park in Salinas on Nov. 11.
It will be the first time ever that both Cupertino teams have qualified for CCS in the same season, and the first time in 10 years that Lynbrook has sent boys and girls teams.
Senior Jason Wang (17:00) and Luca Signore (17:06) finished 20th and 21st to lead the Viking boys, while senior MayC Huang (20:37) placed 13th and junior Cindy Ju (20:59) placed 18th for the girls.
Based on school enrollment, Monta Vista and Homestead will compete in Division I, Los Gatos and Lynbrook in Division II and Cupertino and Saratoga in Division III. Members of the qualifying local teams include:
Lynbrook: Boys--Jason Wang, Luca Signore, Gene Burinskiy, Amrit Subramanian, Eric Surprenant, Andrew Lum, Michael Liu; Girls--MayC Huang, Cindy Ju, Kristen Bryson, Michelle Yee, Anna Sadovnikova, Yvonne Fong, Lauren Comisar.
Saratoga: Boys--Brad Jacobs, Kian Banks, Kunuk Shin, Nick Olsen, Kyle Borch, Rohan Nagesh, Michael Beam; Girls--Katie Nast, Kelly Lamble, Amanda Speedy, Karen Wai, Katrin Cooper, Christine La, Sophia Cooper.